FinTechTerms

Multilingual fintech glossary for academic and production-grade learning.

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Topic hub

Tokenization and real-world assets

Separate payment tokenization from asset tokenization and understand where real-world value enters digital rails.

Three meanings of tokenization

Tokenization can refer to payment credential replacement, on-chain representation of assets, or programmable wrappers around existing value. This hub makes those meanings explicit so that product and market conversations do not collapse them into one vague label.

Asset realism

RWA language matters because a token is not automatically equivalent to legal ownership, settlement finality, or reserve quality. This hub connects asset-backed terms with custody, proof, and issuance assumptions.

Bridge between payments and crypto

The same vocabulary increasingly appears in both payments and crypto. Network token, stablecoin, CBDC, and wrapped assets sit at that boundary, which is why this hub is structurally linked to both cards/payments and crypto infrastructure.

Source framework

Terms in this hub

Forward Contract

Custom contract to buy/sell later.

Forward Guidance

Central bank signaling future policy.

NFT

Non-Fungible Token; unique digital identifier.

Stablecoin

Cryptocurrency pegged to stable asset like USD.

Tokenization

Replacing sensitive data with non-sensitive tokens.

Tokenomics

Economic model of a cryptocurrency token.

ERC-20

Standard for fungible tokens on Ethereum.

ERC-721

Standard for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Governance Token

Token giving voting rights in a DAO.

Utility Token

Token providing access to a service.

Security Token

Token representing investment contract.

STO

Security Token Offering.

Stablecoin Algo

Stablecoin kept stable by code.

CBDC

Central Bank Digital Currency.

Wrapped Bitcoin

Bitcoin on Ethereum network.

Vaporware

Software announced but never shipped.

Soulbound Token

Non-transferable NFT.

Vesting Schedule

Timeline for token release.

TGE

Token Generation Event.

Fully Diluted Valuation

Market cap if all tokens flowed.

RWA

Real World Assets on chain.

ERC-1155

Multi-token standard managing multiple token types.

BEP-20

Token standard on Binance Smart Chain.

Soulbound Token (SBT)

Non-transferable NFT representing identity or reputation.

Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)

ERC-20 token pegged to Bitcoin value.

Liquidity Mining

Earning tokens by providing liquidity.

Private Sale

Token sale for strategic investors.

Public Sale

Token sale open to the general public.

Algorithmic Stablecoin

Stablecoin maintaining peg via algorithms.

Synthetic Asset

Token tracking value of another asset.

Nominator

User delegating tokens to a validator.

Equity Token

Token representing stock in a company.

Asset-backed Token

Token backed by physical assets.

Token Burn

Permanently removing tokens from circulation.

Buyback

Project buying its own tokens.

Circulating Supply

Number of tokens currently available.

Total Supply

Total number of tokens existing.

Initial Exchange Offering (IEO)

Token sale conducted on an exchange.

Initial DEX Offering (IDO)

Token sale on a decentralized exchange.

SBT

Soulbound Token; non-transferable NFT.

Wrapped Token

Token representing an asset on another blockchain.

Token

Digital key for access.

Proof of Reserves

A verification method showing that a custodian or exchange controls enough assets to back customer balances.